Has Bhubaneswar Become The Loot Capital Of Odisha?

Bhubaneswar: Rise in the number of loot incidents despite police patrolling in the capital city Bhubaneswar has now forced everyone to ponder whether the city has become a safe haven for robbers.

Just hours after 3 robberies shocked the city on Tuesday, another late night robbery was reported from the capital city where armed miscreants allegedly attacked a hotel owner and robbed him of his cash. The incident was reported from Mancheswar area of Bhubaneswar and the victim has been identified as the owner of the hotel in Rasulgarh.

Just a few hours earlier, five armed miscreants on motorcycles with their faces covered, allegedly attacked the owner of a car showroom near Puri bypass road and snatched a gold chain from him. The owner managed to save his life by hiding himself in the office but sustained injuries during attack. At least two customers sustained grievous injuries during the loot bid as the anti-socials decamped Rs 2 lakh from one of them in the car showroom.

“When we entered the showroom, we witnessed that a group of robbers were trying to flee the spot after attacking the owner. When we tried to catch them, they attacked and injured us,” said an eyewitness.

Earlier in the day, panic gripped Gadakona area in the city after unidentified miscreants looted cash, gold ornaments and other valuables from a couple by brandishing guns.

In another incident, a retired bank employee was targeted by miscreants while he was out on a morning walk in Adimata Colony. The robbers reportedly snatched his gold ring at gun point.

Sources said as many as 10 cases of loot and robbery have been reported in Bhubaneswar in the last one month stoking concerns about the deteriorating law and order situation in the city.

Meanwhile, protesting the rising crimes in the city especially, the attack and loot incident from a hotel owner last night, hundreds of local residents staged road blockade at Rasulgarh disrupting vehicular movement on Bhubaneswar-Cuttack NH.

4 loots in 24 hours in Bhubaneswar: Police Commissioner Satyajit Mohanty says we will nab the criminals as soon as possible #Odisha #UnsafeBhubaneswar pic.twitter.com/asLEuMXnAW

— OTV (@otvnews) July 31, 2019

With loot incidents rising at an alarming rate in Bhubaneswar, former Odisha DGP Sanjeev Marik said the capital city needs an effective police patrolling in order to curb the crime.

Meanwhile, adopting a new strategy to nab robbers in Bhubaneswar, Police Commissioner Satyajit Mohanty held meeting with youths of Mancheswar area and assigned them responsibility to patrol the area along with police. This apart, a phone number was also issued to provide information to cops.